New Zealand's Brendon McCullum expects favouritism, underdog status and the possibility of choking under the weight of expectation to have little influence on Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against West Indies.
With it's scandalous past, still fresh in the minds of fans and critics alike, the Indian Premier League (IPL) organisers will look to ensure that the focus remains firmly on cricket when the cash-rich event gets underway with a glamorous opening ceremony on Tuesday.
New Zealand's Colin Munro and Ish Sodhi have started the year with a bang after vaulting to the top of the ICC T20I Player Rankings for batsmen and bowlers respectively, following stellar performances in the series against the West Indies, which recently concluded at Mount Maunganui on Wednesday.
Prithvi Shaw, Jason Sangha and Mujeeb Zadran are among the cricketers whose performances will be watched keenly in the upcoming ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
New Zealand are looming as the popular dark horses for the cricket World Cup.
The India right-hander has 862 points in his kitty, still 25 points behind AB de Villiers of South Africa, who is heading the list.
'Bowl the ball reasonably quick on the surface and make the batsmen commit a mistake' 'It always tends to spin here more, which is a good thing for me as a spinner. But yeah the Indians are very good players of spin, and we have to work really hard'
Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner has emerged as New Zealand's trump card in the ongoing World Twenty20 but his bowling partner Ish Sodhi said it is not fair to compare him to the talismanic Daniel Vettori as both are completely different despite similar styles. Santner has grabbed eight wickets in three matches so far and has played a key role in New Zealand's smooth unbeaten march into the semifinals. "He (Vettori) was a fantastic bowler in his own right. But I think they are completely different bowlers. Santner is being himself as much as he can at the moment and it's working really well for him. For us to have his voice when we need it is really nice," Santner told reporters on the eve of the team's match against Bangladesh in Kolkata. Decoding the secret of Santner's success, Sodhi said the left-arm spinner's ability to use his wrist well makes him a difficult proposition in the spin-friendly Indian conditions. "He's a finger spinner but he puts a lot of wrist like leg-spin bowling. He puts lot of wrists on the ball. You have to do that with our conditions as it's not very conducive to spin, so you have to get something out of the wicket. I think he's a product of that.
One man, who won't be there in the opening game of the ICC WorldT20, was responsible for all four Indian defeats.
New Zealand entered their maiden ICC World Cup final, beating South Africa by five wickets in a thrilling rain-reduced World Cup semi-final at Eden spoPark in Auckland on Tuesday. Set 298 to win from 43 overs, the Kiwis, led by fine knocks from captain Brendon McCullum (59 off 26 balls) and Grant Elliott (84 off 73) got across the finish line with one ball to spare. Elliott hit the winning run with a six over long-on off the bowling of Dale Steyn.
The four best teams have made the semi-finals of the World Cup and New Zealand's clash with South Africa at Eden Park is going to be 'one heck of a show', according to coach Mike Hesson.
Martin Guptill stroked a fluent century to help New Zealand edge past Bangladesh by three wickets with seven deliveries to spare, in the ICC World Cup Pool A match in Hamilton, on Friday.
Watson used to take flak for his inability to convert half centuries to centuries but recently his problem has been progressing from scores in the 20s and 30s.
Kane Williamson coolly struck a straight six to give New Zealand a one wicket victory over Australia in a dramatic battle between the World Cup hosts at Eden Park on Saturday.
Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers from the Oval Test.
A B de Villiers is likely to lead Royal Challengers Bangalore in the initial phase of the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League in case Virat Kohli fails to recover from his shoulder injury.
Rajneesh Gupta highlights all the important numbers from cricket World Cups held between 1975 to 2015.
As the teams gear up for the 2019 World Cup to be held in the UK across 11 venues, here is a look at the 10 greatest matches in the history of the mega-event.
Here's what you need to know more about dominant batsman Ross Taylor.
The 2015 World Cup was, skipper Brendon McCollum said, the ride of a lifetime for New Zealand and even if Australia brought it to a shuddering halt in Sunday's final, their brilliant campaign will not quickly fade from the memory.
We give ourselves a 50-50 chance in the final, says McCullum.
India's pace spearhead Mohammed Shami received the biggest compliment in his two-year international career as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time Sir Richard Hadlee termed the young seamer's efforts in the ICC Cricket World Cup "particularly impressive".
Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are India's highest-ranked batsman and bowler in third and 13th positions respectively.
New Zealand have never appeared so well-united as they do currently. 'Individually and collectively, under Brendon McCullum's astute leadership, they seem a formidable lot.'
When South Africa lost to India on Sunday, they cemented their reputation for 'choking' in ICC tournaments. Rajneesh Gupta tells us why South Africa's record for freezing in important ICC contests is, alas, well deserved.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji figure out who are the most valuable players after the league phase of the World Cup intheir latest update.
Rajneesh Gupta presents a complete statistical IPL dossier.
Australia won the ICC cricket World Cup for a record fifth time when they beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
Sachin's Blasters has Lara, Sehwag, Mahela, Murali and, of course, Tendulkar! Warne's Warriers has Ponting, Kallis, Sanga, Akram and Donald...
Kumar Sangakkara scored an unbeaten 113 and then returned to break the world record for the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in One-day internationals as Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 34 runs in the seventh and final match in Wellington on Thursday.
Kane Williamson hit a century and Luke Ronchi smashed 24 runs off one explosive over when the match was still in the balance to steer New Zealand to a four-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the fourth One-Day International in Nelson on Tuesday.
Statistical highlights of the World Twenty20 Super 10 Group 2 match between India and New Zealand in Nagpur on Tuesday.
In-form Axar Patel believes he is fully ready for his second tour of Australia and is not losing sleep over the close competition between him and Ravindra Jadeja for the number one left-arm spinner's role in the five One-Day Internationals Down Under.
Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed bagged five wickets for 28 runs on debut as India were dismissed in 25.3 overs in the second ODI in Mirpur. But the pace combination of Stuart Binny (6-4) and Mohit Sharma (4-22) saved India from humiliation by bundling out the hosts for just 58 in 17.4 overs. Following the Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting statistics.
Pre-tournament favourites Australia currently occupy third spot in Pool A.
India's marauding cricket team will be aiming to reclaim the No 1 spot in ICC rankings when it takes on an unsettled New Zealand in the second Test starting, in Kolkata, on Friday.
It will be the biggest day in the history of Trans-Tasman cricketing rivalry when four-time champions Australia will be pitted against a highly committed bunch from New Zealand in the final of the ICC World Cup at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In the run-up to the 2015 World Cup, India seemed to stumble, but were a changed side once the tournament commenced. They have been clinical in their wins and have cruised to the quarter-final. Along the way, they continued their hold over archrivals Pakistan -- winning their sixth match against the neighbours in the mega event. They then thrashed the more fancied South Africa and took care of business in the other four first round matches. Here are the key moments that stood out in each of their first round matches.
With an impeccable tally of 2,633 runs across formats this year, Kane Williamson, says Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com, is right up there among the pantheon of modern great greats.
Images from the World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand, at the MCG.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances